Russia and the Idea of Europe: a Study in Identity and International

RUSSIA AND THE IDEA OF EUROPE The end of the Soviet system and the transition to the market in Russia has brought to the fore the centuries-old debate about Russia’s relationship with Europe. In Russia and the Idea of Europe Iver Neumann discusses whether the tensions between Romantic nationalist views and Europe-orientated liberal views can ever be resolved. The issue of nationalism is examined as one of the most powerful and alarming of Russian responses to the pressures exerted by European models. Drawing on a wide array of Russian sources, Neumann outlines the argument as it has unfolded over the last two hundred years, showing how Russia is caught between the attraction of an economically, politically and socially more developed Europe, and the appeal of being able to play a Europeanstyle imperial role in less-developed Asia. Neumann argues that the process of delineating a European ‘other’ from the Russian self is an active part of Russian identity formation. The Russian debate about Europe is also a debate about what Russia is and should be. This book will be of great interest to students of Russian studies, European studies and international relations, and to any reader interested in the concepts of nation and identity. Iver B.Neumann heads the division for foreign and security policy at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. THE NEW INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Edited by Barry Buzan, University of Warwick, and Gerald Segal, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London The field of international relations has changed dramatically in recent years. This new series will cover the major issues that have emerged and reflect the latest academic thinking in this particularly dynamic area. INTERNATIONAL LAW, RIGHTS AND POLITICS Developments in Eastern Europe and the CIS Rein Mullerson THE LOGIC OF INTERNATIONALISM Coercion and accommodation Kjell Goldmann RUSSIA AND THE IDEA OF EUROPE A study in identity and international relations Iver B.Neumann London and New York First published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1996 Iver B.Neumann Iver B.Neumann asserts his moral right to be acknowleged as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-42856-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-73680-X (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-11370-9 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-11371-7 (pbk) Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning. (Geertz, 1973:5) There are difficulties also with the view that places culture, and in particular, domestic culture, in the system’s position as the principal guide to the interpretation of international politics. In the first place, when Adda Bozeman decided that the future was not bright for law in a multicultural world, her main source material was the doctrine of the several cultures rather than their practice of co-existence. And just as The Soviet Design for a World State seems more alarming when put together from Marxist-Leninist texts than it does when mixed with the historical record, so might a textual approach give a harsher view of the clash of cultures in world politics than is justified by the reality of their mutual recognition. (Vincent, 1980:259) To Ingeborg, Ida and Linka CONTENTS Series editor’s preface ix Preface xi Acknowledgements xvii Note on the text xviii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THE NAPOLEONIC WARS AND THE DECEMBRIST UPRISING 13 3 OFFICIAL NATIONALITY, ‘SLAVOPHILES’, ‘WESTERNISERS’ 28 4 FROM THE SPRINGTIME OF NATIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION OF TSAR ALEXANDER II 40 5 FROM THE ASSASSINATION OF TSAR ALEXANDER II TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR 61 6 FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR TO DE-STALINISATION 95 From the November coup to the Russo-Polish War 102 From the Russo-Polish to the Second World War 116 7 FROM DE-STALINISATION TO PERESTROYKA 131 From de-Stalinisation to the ousting of Khrushchev 132 From the ousting of Khrushchev to perestroyka 141 8 PERESTROYKA AND AFTER 158 Perestroyka 160 After perestroyka 179 9 CONCLUSION 194 vii CONTENTS Notes 211 Bibliography 223 Index 243 viii SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE This is a book in the series on the ‘new international relations’. We began the series in large measure because we recognised that the end of the Cold War marked a major change in the pattern of international affairs, and that there should be a place where authors dedicated to understanding the new features could find a congenial platform. Of course, the reason for the end of the Cold War was the collapse of communism and the collapse was in return the result of a recognition in Russia that they could no longer sustain their empire. Thus, a series on the new international relations that did not include a major analysis of Russian attitudes and policies leading to the collapse would have a gaping hole at its heart. We were fortunate to have attracted one of the bright young stars of European analysis of the former Soviet Union, Iver Neumann, to turn his dissertation on how the Russians adopted and adapted the idea of Europe, into a major book. Iver’s effort can and should be read through different lenses. For the historian, there is a fine summary and analysis of the evolution of the Russian state and its relationship with Europe. This is a study of both the idea of Europe in Russian debates, and also a broader understanding of European ideas that helped shape Russian politics. Thus, for the more specific historian of political thought, there is an even more detailed and subtle analysis of how Russia learned to think about itself and its relationship with European ideals. Inevitably, this was a messy process, and its very complexity leaves much open for Russian leaders who came later. For those with stronger interests in current affairs, Iver’s analysis offers a thick soup of ideas on where Russia might be going. It ix SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE is now almost a cliché to note that Russia, like much of Europe, risks going ‘back, to the future’. As Barry Buzan has noted elsewhere, the lifting of the Cold War overlay uncovers many aspects of Europe’s old history. Iver explores these ideas and suggests the basis on which new and old European ideas are likely to become hooked into the Russian political debates. So much of the current Russian discussion about the future concerns an assessment of Russia’s roots, that students of current Russian foreign policy will find new twists to an already complex fabric. Russian history and its relationship with Europe remains a messy set of intellectual strands, but it is on these threads that the future Russian relationship with Europe and the wider world will be built. There is even much for the student of the wider fabric of international affairs, especially those with an eye for potential clashes among civilisations. Is Russia really part of European civilisation? This is a question of the highest and most current policy, for a positive answer might suggest the need for Russian membership in both NATO and the European Union. The fact that the answer seems to be No, has encouraged many Russians to see their foreign policy options as lying elsewhere. The basis for exploring Russia’s Asian identity or the notion of something distinctly, Eurasian, lies in these debates about Russia’s true civilisation. The battle between Westernisers and others in turn plays a crucial role in shaping the domestic politics of Russia. The battles are in fact only just joined. Thus, the analysis of the ideas and arguments involved in Russia’s relationship with European ideas is likely to be with us for some time. Because the arguments involve very old ideas, and because the debates will run for some time, this is in a sense a book about how the old international relations shapes the new. As a result, the series editors are happy to welcome it as the epitome of the series and the kinds of intellectual challenges that we all face. Gerald Segal International Institute for Strategic Studies, London x PREFACE Although Europe played a key role in Russian identity formation at least since the late seventeenth century (Rogger, 1960), this book picks up the story about a century later. The revolution in France in 1789 utterly changed the setting for the Russian debate about Europe. The military challenge to Russia which grew out of the French Revolution had a political parallel which was no less challenging. Once the revolution had removed enlightened despotism in one country and so demonstrated that this regime type was man-made rather than inevitably given, debate about its legitimacy could be expected in other countries too. The introductory chapter discusses these matters in more detail. Chapter 2 focuses on the Decembrist uprising and the Russian reactions to it.

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